Occupy the Prison-Industrial Complex

Check out this article on Occupy and mass incarceration at Truth-Out.

Since Occupy first exploded onto the scene, many within the political establishment and mainstream media have criticized occupiers alternatively for a lack of demands and for embracing too many seemingly unrelated demands. In spite of this confusion among those who are the self-appointed gatekeepers of political discourse, most people have understood Occupy as being a movement concerned with corporate influence over government, economic inequality and the economic crisis at large. It is precisely for those reasons that Occupy should be concerned about America's penal population (which is not to say that many Occupy groups and occupiers are not).
The current regime of mass incarceration is very much tied to the emergence of the neoliberal state in America. The neoliberal state demands stability for the market, but ultimately generates instability with its generation of surplus populations and lack of social resources. This means that while neoliberalism seeks to limit state intervention in the market and slash social welfare nets in the name of "freedom," it inevitably results in increased coercion, militarization and incarceration. And with its desire to subject every aspect of society to the market, prisons become not just a necessity under neoliberalism, but a profitable venture. These factors, not an epidemic of criminality, are the chief causes of mass incarceration in America. Prisons are therefore very much tied to the larger economic polices that Occupy opposes.

1. One private prison advertises to investors that it will maintain a 90% occupancy rate.

Everyone should be aware of this monstrosity, of for-profit prisons, and indeed, the existing PIC. SoCal Occupy has joined other organizations in protesting conditions in the SHU (solitary housing unit), and to support hunger strikes and to end the conditions in general. Of using illegal immigrants as slave labor at less than $1 a day (while prison telephones can cost $5.00 a minute and more). I know this is more than local. I have heard stories of "the two-minute crew", groups of guards who enter a cell and see how much damage they can do to an inmate in two minutes...while one prison managed to help some 88 prisoners to vote in this election.

It is worth noting that Wells Fargo are among the largest investors in prison privatisation companies.

2. That should shock the consciences of all Americans:

One private prison advertises to investors that it will maintain a 90% occupancy rate.

Is it even necessary to explain why? I am shocked that this allowed, to advertise the enslavement of Americans, which is exactly what this does.

I have hopes that some of their business will be gone soon as more and more states pass laws legalizing MJ. At least one has now cancelled all charges against those who were facing, probably, jail time until this election.

There is a lot of evil, and I do believe it is evil, at work in this country today.

Which is why movements like OWS are so necessary and I am so proud of all the work they are doing in so many areas to try to counter it.